Speakers
- Cynthia Oliver
- University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Professor/Choreographer/Associate Vice-Chancellor for Research, Humanities, Arts & Related Fields
Cynthia Oliver is a St.Croix, Virgin Island reared dance maker and scholar. Her work incorporates textures of Caribbean performance with African and American aesthetic sensibilities. She has toured the globe as a featured dancer with numerous contemporary dance and theatre companies, including David Gordon Pick Up Co., Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE, and in works by Laurie Carlos, Ntozake Shange, and Deke Weaver. She earned a PhD in performance studies from New York University, is widely published, and has won numerous awards including a New York Dance and Performance (BESSIE) Award. At the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, she is professor in the dance department, affiliate in African American and Gender & Women’s Studies and currently serves as Associate Vice Chancellor for Research in the Humanities, Arts and Related Fields. Her recent performance work, Virago-Man Dem, premiered at BAM’s Next Wave Festival and toured the country